Archive for April 2013

This is a graphical representation of the new curriculum for Philippine schools. The Core Learning Areas for basic education are Languages, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Physical Education, Health, Music, Arts, and Values Education. Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE) refers to subjects that prepare students for technical or vocational work. In Senior High School (Grades 11 and 12), students will take a Core Curriculum, consisting of the Core Learning Areas, plus Philosophy, Literature, and Media and Information Literacy; they will also specialize in one of three Tracks (Technical/Vocational/Livelihood, Academic, and Sports/Arts). The acronyms in the Academic Track refer to these strands: Humanities, Education, Social Sciences (HESS), Science Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM), and Business, Accounting, Management (BAM). Students of TVL and Sports/Arts may directly join the work force. TVL students, in particular, will earn a National Certificate II (a certificate that qualifies them for middle-level jobs). All students may opt to go directly or eventually to higher education. If they go to higher education, they will take a General Education Curriculum, which has been revised to reflect 21st century concerns. The curriculum from Kindergarten to undergraduate and graduate school has been revised with the active help of industry, in order to ensure that there is no mismatch between what the formal education system supplies and what the world of work demands.

The number 2013, I am sure, will soon have its own share of believers and unbelievers.

What is lucky and what is unlucky? What is good luck and what is bad luck? Sino ang suwerte? Sino ang malas? Ano ang suwerte? Ano ang malas?

Today, I want to talk about luck.

You have been very lucky so far. You once had a dream of getting a degree from MSU-IIT and you have now fulfilled it. You have worked hard. You have sacrificed a lot. Your parents have sacrificed a lot. But now that your dream has been fulfilled, you must start working on your next dream. This is where you will need a lot more luck.

In 1854, in a lecture at the University of Lille, the French microbiologist who first realized that germs cause disease once said, “Dans les champs de l’observation le hasard ne favorise que les esprits préparés.” In English, “Chance favors the prepared mind.” Sa Filipino, “Kung handa ka, siguradong suwesuwertehin ka.”

You have heard horror tales about college graduates not being able to find jobs. This is the infamous “mismatch” that employers like to talk about and that educators worry about every day. I call it the “Fear of the Mismatch.”

That fear has caused the Commission on Higher Education to change the curriculums of various major programs many times. That fear started the K to 12 reform of the Department of Education, back in the days of President Erap Estrada and now fulfilled in the days of President Noynoy Aquino. That fear has made us look beyond our shores to the educational systems of other countries, such as that of Europe, with its dual-tech educational systems and the Bologna Process.

Just like any fear, the fear of the mismatch is a good fear. It keeps educators on their toes. It keeps employers a reason to put money into the educational system. It keeps our country from complacency.

Should you also fear a mismatch between what you learned at MSU-IIT and what you will face during your first job interview?

Tomorrow, and perhaps you have already done it, you will send out your first résumés. Before you do that, before you do anything at all, in fact, tonight, after you are done with your graduation parties, sit down quietly by yourself and ask yourself, what do you want to do with the rest of your life?

I will answer that for you. You want to help your family. You want to help your province or region. You want to help our country. You want to help the world.

It is really that simple. You should spend the rest of your life helping others. Not yourself. Definitely not yourself. You know why? Because if you think only of yourself, if you want only to help yourself, no employer is ever going to hire you. Employers want you because they want you to help their companies. They will not hire you if all you want is a big or a bigger salary, if you want to have all sorts of benefits immediately, if you just want to sit down doing nothing. They are not interested in what they can do for you. They are interested in what you can do for them.

But if they see that you are interested not in yourself but in something bigger than yourself, they will be interested in you.

A little bit earlier, Forbes magazine proudly announced that fifteen Filipinos are dollar billionaires. Is that good or bad? It is good because it means that we have a lot of money in our country. It is bad because it means that only fifteen people or fifteen families have money. The rest of us are, to put it simply, poor. Of course, it is not true that there are only fifteen families that have money. According to economists, there are forty. But fifteen or forty are still very, very few, compared to the millions of families that are poor. If you want numbers, look up the National Statistics Office figures on unemployment. In October 2012, the unemployment rate was 6.8%. It was only 6.4% in October 2011. In October 2011 the country gained 2.1 million jobs. In October 2012 the country lost 882,000 jobs. Suwerte ba tayo o malas?

Let me now abruptly return to the small picture, which turns out to be the big picture.

There is one economic indicator that should hit home in Iligan. According to economists and other experts, the “new growth pole” in the country is Mindanao. This is where the country will rise or fall. Mindanao has always been called the new frontier. This year, 2013, it is literally true. Manila is hopeless. Luzon is hopeless. The Visayan islands are stuck. The country will move forward only if – I should say when – Mindanao moves forward.

You are lucky because you are in Mindanao. You are right here where the action is. You are lucky because you studied in a school that is rooted solidly in Mindanao. You are lucky because you graduated from a school that has never deviated from its tradition of academic excellence in many fields, particularly science and technology. You have been well-prepared for the task that you now face.

What is the task that you now face?

It is to propel Mindanao to its position of leadership. It is to be the pilot in the ship that is the country. It is to be the leader of the almost a hundred million Filipinos ready to become, if we will believe the foreign press, the next Asian tiger.

The Philippines needs Filipinos. We need you right here, right here in Mindanao.

If you ask me, what exactly should you do, I will answer very simply, I don’t know, you don’t know, nobody knows. But that is why luck is very important. Louis Pasteur did not know that he would discover germs. Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen did not know that he would discover X-rays. Thomas Edison did not know he could make a light bulb. They were all lucky, because they were all prepared. You will be lucky, because you have been well-prepared.

What is the next big thing? What is it that will make Mindanao, that will make the country, the next Asian tiger? What will make us a rich nation, richer than Singapore, richer than South Korea, richer than China? I don’t know, you don’t know, nobody knows, nobody knows right now, but you will know, you will know it the moment you suddenly, without warning, discover it, think of it, make it, do it. Chance favors the prepared mind. Kung handa ka, siguradong suwesuwertehin ka. You have been well-prepared by MSU-IIT. You have been well-prepared to become lucky. Suwerte kayo dahil nag-gradweyt kayo sa MSU-IIT. Suwerte kayo dahil dito kayo nakatira sa Mindanao. Suwerte kayo dahil kayo ang mag-iimbento, ang makatutuklas, ang makakaisip ng bagong kung anuman na magpapayaman sa wakas sa ating bayan.

What can you do, in the concrete? First, of course, you must thank Allah, Panginoon, God, or whatever the name is of the ultimate being that you pray to, that you have received an excellent preparation for life. Second, you must look back at what you have learned, make sure that you keep what you have learned in your head, fill in the gaps that you feel you missed when you were absent or late for class. Third, you must keep your imagination open. Do not be imprisoned in the last century, the twentieth century. Do not be afraid to venture out into the unknown. You are living in frontier land. You are leading the country. Everybody is behind you, not in front of you. You are the only ones in front. In front of you is open space, open possibilities, open everything. You are leading us, you are leading every Filipino, to places where human imagination has not been, where – as Star Trek would put it – no one has gone before. Kayo ang pag-asa ng ating bayan. Kayo ang pag-asa ng ating mundo. Kayong mga gradweyt ng Class 2013.

Understanding the Self: Nature of identity; factors and forces that affect the development and maintenance of personal identity

Readings in Philippine History: Selected primary sources on different periods of Philippine history

The Contemporary World: Globalization and its impact on individuals, communities and nations, challenges and responses

Mathematics in the Modern World: Nature of mathematics, appreciation of its practical, intellectual, and aesthetic dimensions, and application of mathematical tools in daily life

Purposive Communication: Writing, speaking and presenting to different audiences and for various purposes

Art Appreciation: Nature, function and appreciation of the arts in contemporary society

Science, Technology and Society: Interactions between science and technology and social, cultural, political and economic contexts which shape and are shaped by them; specific examples throughout human history of scientific and technological developments

Ethics: Principles of ethical behavior in modern society at the level of the person, society, and in interaction